Tailoring Layered Double Hydroxide-Based Coatings for Multifunctional Catalysis: Insights into Composition, Architecture, and Reactivity

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have attracted growing interest as multifunctional materials due to their tunable composition, layered architecture, and versatile surface and interlayer chemistry. In addition to their use as bulk catalysts, LDHs are increasingly explored as functional and catalytic coatings, where immobilization on solid substrates enables enhanced stability, reusability, and control over interfacial reactivity. This review examines how composition, architecture, and reactivity relationships in LDHs can be leveraged to design multifunctional LDH-based coatings able to support catalytic processes. Key design strategies based on cation composition, interlayer anions, defect engineering, and hierarchical architectures are discussed in the context of surface-deposited systems. Synthetic approaches relevant to coatings, including in situ growth, post-synthetic modification, and calcination–reconstruction routes, are summarized alongside mechanistic insights into acid–base, redox, and synergistic multi-site catalysis. Finally, applications in catalytic coatings, and environmentally relevant processes are highlighted, with emphasis on structure–activity correlations, coating durability, and resistance to leaching. This review provides a framework for the rational development of multifunctional LDH coatings for catalytic and energy-related applications.